Ex-Zynga designer's SecretNewCo partners with Nexon

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Korean free-to-play company picks up minority share and publishing rights

SecretNewCo, the development studio founded by Zynga’s former chief game designer Brian Reynolds, is working on a new mobile strategy social game, and has revealed a partnership with Korean online game company, Nexon.

Nexon will be investing in Reynolds’ company in exchange for a minority stake in the business and publishing rights for SecretNewCo’s flagship game, which is simply titled SecretNewGame for now.

In the game, players will be tasked with guiding a tribe through the stages of human history, starting with the Stone Age. Along the way, players can form alliances, choose to defend against attacks from enemies, trade with friends and launch raids.

SecretNewGame is set to launch worldwide in 2014."Nexon pioneered the free-to-play model over 15 years ago,” Reynolds said.

“This partnership lets SecretNewCo tap into Nexon's proven free-to-play expertise and resources as we continue to grow our team and scale the reach of our new game. Nexon shares our focus on developing the best team, most innovative content and – most importantly – connecting people through fun games.”

Nexon’s CFO and CAO, Owen Mahoney, added: “This agreement represents a significant milestone for Nexon as we execute against our strategy to grow our business in key markets in the West. We are excited to partner with such a well-respected industry veteran as Brian and the talented SecretNewCo team to bring SecretNewGame to players around the world.”